Nov 222006
Always On is Too Much On
Always On is Too Much On
Among other things last week travelling abroad for work, I learned another good CEO lesson — sometimes it’s ok, even good, to be a bit out of touch.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m Always On at the office, while travelling in the US, and usually at home and on weekends as well. And as I’ve said before in various postings (here, here, here, and definitely here), it’s great to completely unplug at least once a year for a peaceful vacation with friends & family.
But last week was a nice lesson in the middle ground. I had an international cell phone that people at work didn’t seem to want to call, so they could in an emergency, but no one did for routine things. I was 5-8 hours off on time zones, so people didn’t think to reach out. I did email once or twice a day when time permitted, so I stayed in good touch, but I wasn’t grinding out email responses on my Treo every time I took a deep breath.
And the company was fine. As far as I could tell, sales were even up, so maybe I should semi-disappear more often!
Matt,
You are on to something. I made a conscious decision not to do the cell phone thing while driving.
Nothing bad happened. While in Europe on business, my cell carrier had some difficulty so I quickly bought a phone locally with a local number. Called the critical folks to let them know the temporary number. No one called back. Nothing bad happened. And last week, our ISP went south for 12 hours–never happened before. I was convinced that I had to run to a Starbucks and log on, but I didn’t. Nothing bad happened.
Now I’m trying to honestly evaluate what part of my business life is governed by the “business pop culture” of “must do” instant connectedness vs. “what’s really necessary.
Like you, I’m “Always On.” Now I’m thinking that a lot of that is just me and not an actual business demand.
Steve Roesler
I hear you on that one Matt! Always ON can be a bit too much of a grind. I remember when I first realized I could actually not pay attention to the Blackberry for a day, and things were still ok.
I also highly recommend the once a year sabatical from the airwaves and email, it does wonders for you. Good post.
- Greg